Billions of stars glinted in the eternal sky, laid there by their mother centuries before. To the citizens of Equestria, the stars were a constant. Invariably in their places every night when the day ended. Some knew that Luna had dominion over the heaves but most paid little attention to them, everyday ponies just going about their business; leaving the heavens to itself. In ages past, she had fashioned each and every night differently from the one before. Crafting auroras, spinning galaxies that could be seen to the naked eye, and even moving constellations that depicted notable events like the defeat of chaos himself. That, however, was prior to her banishment. In modern times, she had kept the night mostly the same. Dull and unmoving. Prior to her banishment, ponies didn't appreciate her night's. She wasn't about to muck that up for no good reason. Sure there were a few holidays that she would brighten or enhance a few of the more notable stars but all in all, not much changed in her night sky. That was until a bright flame shattered the silence and changed the very heavens that used to be hers alone.
The falling star's sudden appearance illuminated the calm that came with the evening, turning it into a loud and unwelcomed dawn. Luna and Twilight's muted conversation was broken as they tracked the aurora colored sphere, watching as it tore a series of perfect holes in the early winter clouds. Twilight first thought was of the weather ponies. Their plans for an early-season snowfall was undone in an instant as the heat radiating off the object dissolved the nearby clouds. A few moments later the Whump, Whump, Whump of the meteor entering the atmosphere rolled across the hills and thrummed in their ears. The two alicorns twisted their faces as they anticipated the final thud from the object impacting in the uninhabited hills just to the west of Canterlot.
Twilight turned and smiled at her friend. "Luna, I know you're not a fan of the snow but you didn't hav--" But Luna wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were fixed, unmoving on the horizon.
Twilight's eyes snapped back to the meteor. Sudden anxiety rippled through her nerves as the object began to slow down and level out. In a jerking motion, it began cutting a horizontal line along the ground nearly three hundred feet above the tree-line before dipping beyond their view. Two facts flashed in Twilight's mind. This was not Luna. This was no meteor.
The pair had been standing on one of the many western facing balconies, enjoying the evening and each other's company. Twilight's coronation, only a few months prior, had left fewer and fewer opportunities for them to spend any time together. Twilight was her usual productive and over-prepared self. Celestia had been excitedly busying herself with packing for her official retirement while Luna was busying herself with stalling said retirement. She was just getting used to princess-ing in the modern era. The parties, the delegations, and even the admiration. Much more enjoyable than breaking up tribal disputes and putting upstart tyrants in their place, as she did before her banishment.
Twilight, with eyes wide and mouth open, stared in stunned disbelief. She only let the event get the better of her for a moment before her razor-sharp mind took over. It was already pouring through the stored information she had on hoof about comets, meteors, and stellar phenomenon. Despite the anxiety, a selfish part of her missed being surprised. Her vast and varied studies over the years had left very few gaps in her base knowledge, especially when it came to the sciences. It was rare for her to come up with absolutely nothing. With a shake of her head and a wordless huff, she finally turned her eyes to the Lunar princess.
Her expression was as stoic as ever. Whether this was good or bad, Twilight didn't know. Luna's eyes moved very little and her brows stitched slightly as she let the wisdom granted by age work quietly in her mind. If the young alicorn beside her was still silent, Luna thought there would be little chance that she herself would have any helpful insights on the entity. Her experiences were grounded more in ancient magicks, battle theory, and a thousand ways to embarrass her sister. This new thing was completely alien to her.
Luna steeled her mind and spoke quickly. "We should see if anypony is hurt before we jump to conclusions about what that object is Twilight Sparkle. I need to inform my sister. She will be frustrated about our delayed retirement."
Twilight nodded in agreement and spoke quickly. "I'll begin organizing a rescue party and notify the local hospitals. If there's enough time, I will see if I can get a few dragons as well. Their fire resistance may help if- what?" She trailed off as Luna's teal eyes held her in place.
The blue Alicorn's face broke into a smile. It was proud and content. The kind of smile that she didn't give very often. "Every day I'm reminded."
"Reminded?" Twilight questioned.
"I'm glad it was you."
Despite the circumstances, Twilight's eyes began to tear up as she whispered. "I'll do my best."
She quickly wing-hugged Luna, focused her magic, and teleported away.
"You always do."
-SOL system: Spacedock 5, Lunar orbit.
"You're missing dinner... again." A disembodied male voice called out.
Aiden Rames eased himself out from under the console he had been working on, tapped the subdermal implant in his neck, and answered. "Almost done. Just give me a few minutes." He twisted his hand around to grab a seemingly random tool from this toolbox and scooted back under the console.
The voice paused before answering. "Just saying, they're serving apple pie in the cafeteria."
Aiden hopefully paused his work. "Really? Real app-"
"No, synthetic I'm afraid." The voice mirrored his own disappointment.
"Bah." He scoffed and scooted back under his console. "We're on the frontier of humanity's' reach for the stars, you'd think they could at least spring for real apples."
"Am I having Deja vu Aid? We had this same conversation at lunchtime. Quit being a nerd and come have dinner with the flight crew."
Aiden chuckled to himself. "First, I'm not a nerd. I'm a test pilot for the most sophisticated spacecraft humanity has ever built. Second, hold your horses. I'm almost done. If I don't get these controls ran to this console, I'll have to run back and forth from all 5 seats just to keep myself flying straight."
Despite the voice not having a face to read, he could hear the eyes rolling over the com. "Aiden, don't let Captian Paris catch you doing unauthorized modifications. You're only going to Pluto station. Plus, you are a nerd. Your most prized possession is a three-hundred-year-old card game that bastardizes the evolutionary process while simultaneously violating every animal cruelty law known to mankind."
Aiden grunted in annoyance. "You see, this is why I don't tell you things. You always find a way to use the things I love against me. And his name is Captian pain in my as- OUCH. Aiden cursed, his hand slipping off the spanner, rapping his bare knuckles on the metal.
Ignoring his pain, the voice continued. "Although the girls in town would probably looove to hear about you being a test pilot. If you ever decided to leave the base."
Aiden rolled his eyes this time. "The more you distract me, the longer this is going to take. Give me thirty minutes. I'll be there, promise. Aiden out." He cursed at his pain and pressed his neck again, the low tone signaling the end of the connection.
After a few moments of flexing his fingers, Aiden sighed and rubbed his weary eyes with the palms of his hands. Turning his wrist over, he checked his watch. He had been working for nearly 15 hours straight without so much as a bathroom or snack break. Time flies and all that. As soon as his thoughts turned to food, his stomach finally reminded him that he needed to eat. Groaning with stiffness, he stretched and pushed himself away from the console. He eyed the door to see if anyone was watching, when he figured he was alone he kipped up to his feet. He smiled at the low gravity of the station, as it made everyone a gymnast once they got over the motion sickness.
"You know why you're only a test pilot, Captian Rames?"
"Holy shit!" Aiden jumped. Spinning to face the sudden voice, even though he recognized it immediately. "How long have you been standing there?"
"It's not because you lack skill." Captian Paris answered, ignoring his question.
Aiden narrowed his eyes. "Thanks for the advice. Now if you don't mind, I was just taking a little break. I have to get back to work." He retorted, his appetite suddenly disappearing.
"It's not a bad thing." Paris continued. "I mean look at what you're doing. It took a team of scientists ten years to design this ship and you can take it apart and put it back together in what? A week." Paris threw his hands up in genuine disbelief.
Aiden didn't un-narrow his eyes, he didn't know if he was being chastised or praised. Captian Paris had a way of helping and hurting you with the same sentence. "It's just easy," Aiden said a matter-of-factly.
"Exactly" Paris exclaimed. As if that one expletive defined his whole crypted statement.
"So I should... Be bad at things?" Aiden questioned. Just hoping for an end to the meeting.
"Wisdom comes through suffering Captian. When things come easy..." Paris trailed off.
"I don-." Aiden began.
"You should go grab a bite to eat Captian Rames. It will give me time to look over the modifications you've made." Paris smiled.
Sighing, Aiden nodded. Anything to get him out of this weird conversation.
"Roger that. I was just leaving."
"Don't give me that look, Luna." Celestia stood opposite her sister in her large, now half-empty bedroom.
Luna quirked an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware I was giving you a look dear sister."
Despite the late hour, Celestia looked as bright-eyed as ever. Since Twilight took over day court she found herself up late with much more energy than she was used to. Much to the dismay of Luna who valued her peace and quiet.
Celestia pointed and shook a hoof at her while stomping across the room. "Yes! Exactly. Don't you come in here and ruin my retirement packing. I have enough stress as it is deciding on what I want to leave, take, donate, or burn." She shuttered as her mind flitted to a closet full of sequin dresses and platform shoes, thankful Luna did not stumble on them during her many many visits. She wouldn't have heard the end of it.
"Do you know how hard it is to choose after living here so long?" She asked rhetorically.
Luna quirked her other eyebrow. She surveyed the room and found an obvious keep pile of clothes. She lit up her horn and began to rummage through it. An impish smile spread across her face as she found what she was looking for. She gave the black and red lacy garment a tug. A felt hanger displayed a scandalous set of lingerie. Complete with a corset, there seemed to be more buckles and straps than fabric. Celestia quickly snatched the garment out of the air and stuffed it back into the bottom of the pile.
"The keep pile you say?" Luna smirked. "Is my big sister planning on getting lucky in her old age?"
Celestia seethed with mock anger. "Luna, my deeear sister. I will fling you from the window if you don't leave me in peace to sort through my belongings, unmolested."
Luna's smile grew even bigger at the low-hanging word fruit her sister gave her but it would have to wait.
"I wish I could but something has come up and we need to speak about it. In private if possible. We don't want this information getting out any more than it probably is."
Celestia pursed her lips and sighed in a mix of disappointment and resigned understanding. She had been alive long enough to know there was always something. Using her magic, she pushed the large embroidered door to her bed chambers shut and put up a sound-dampening spell. Casually, she walked to her bed and stretched out on the edge, careful not to disturb the mounds of clothes piled in the center.
She gave a hurry-up motion with her hoof in her sister's direction. "Well don't keep me waiting. It must be pretty important unless this is another attempt for you to delay the packing that you are supposed to be doing today."
Luna held up a hoof in a mollifying gesture. She cleared her throat and spoke in a conspiratorial tone. "There has been an incident involving an object... from space."
Celestia didn't react for a moment. When she finally did, it was only a slow nod. "Uh-huh... Soo a meteor fell from space? And now we can't move? If this is another one of your attempts Luna, I will be very upset with you."
Celestia obviously didn't get it. Luna tried again, not really believing what she was about to say. "No no Tia. The object didn't fall, it kind of flew." Luna paused, finally seeing the gears turning in her sister's head.
"Oh. Oh my. Are you talking about--" Celestia trailed off.
Luna nodded. "I'm not saying anything for sure Tia. I am also trying to keep my composure. I put on a brave face for Twilight and she's gathering resources for a rescue crew if the impact hurts any of our ponies but-".
Celestia's own gears were turning. She did her best to keep her thoughts in check. "That's good. Twilight needs to stay distracted for now. Search and rescue is a good plan but she just began her job as Princess and this may be too much for her to handle. Plus, we are not technically retired yet. We need to get to the crash site and find out the truth for ourselves before any of our ponies get involved. I have to admit, in all my days as ruler, I never once considered a department of alien affairs."
"Do you really believe that's what we are dealing with here sister?" Luna asked, surprised that Celestia was taking the news so easily.
"There's a saying that's just about as old as we are."
"What's that?"
"Better safe than sorry."
Luna huffed in agreement. A sudden grin spread across her face and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Celestia gave her a worried look. "What's so funny?"
Luna struggled to get the words out, "Wh- When they say 'take us to your leader' I'm just imagining Twilight's face when we both point at her."
Celestia clasped her hooves over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "Oh, you are horrible!" Celestia playfully scolded, pushing her sister.
After a few moments, they gained their composure. "We should start heading there. I will warn the guard and have the royal medical staff called in to help access any injuries or... visitors."
The pair walked towards the closed door, pulling it open and breaking the spell. The hollow hallway echoed with their hoof-falls. Before reaching the veranda, Celestia turned to Luna one final time and spoke with a weary cheer.
"Let's go meet our guest."
"Capitan Rames, Luna base. How are you reading me? Over"
With his left hand, Aiden Rames pushed the implant in his neck that now connected to the ship's systems. "It's like you're standing next to me Luna Base. Over."
"Hey, that's great. Looks like that new QE* system works even better than we anticipated. You sound great on our end. over."
"Good to hear LB. I'm glad the boys solved that eleven-hour turn around coms issue. Any issues with my lady? Over."
A brief pause. "Negative Aid. We're showing no fluctuations on our end. All systems normal. That new containment for the antimatter is something else."
Aiden breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the Moon. I was getting tired of holding my breath. Half the council has been looking for a reason to scrub this mission and I'll be dammed if they do it when I'm sitting in the driver seat."
The coms chirped with a dozen murmurs of the ground crew agreeing in the background. "Seems a few of our colleges agree with you kid. We should kick this party off before they come and spike your wheels."
Aiden smiled. He had known Jeremy for twenty years and the man was twice as impatient as he was. "Agreed. By the time they get done deliberating, I'll have reached the Voyager one probe."
Light chuckles from the ground crew reached his ears. "Roger that. Just give us a few to triple check and we'll pass docking control to you."
Aiden gave a final roger before settling down in the middle of the front three chairs in the cockpit. Just shy of 35 meters long and 25 meters wide, the ship was designed from the ground up to be crewed by five people in total for long-term, deep space exploration. A good fifth of its size was for the engine alone. However, for this flight, all the important commands had been routed to a single seat for the convenience of testing.
The guys with the thick glasses, white shirts, and black ties called it Expermental Craft X-173. Modified science vessel. A.I.W.D.. Or: Antimatter. Induction. Warp. Drive. It bothered Aiden that the engineers always missed an opportunity to give awesome things, awesome names. First off, IT was a she, and her name was Lona. The Hawaiian goddess of the moon. Legend says that she was a goddess who fell in love with a mortal man. He wanted to name her Luna, but since Earth's moon already had that name, it seemed like some miscommunication would be a likely result. With the name close enough to Luna to keep the council and white shirts happy, they agreed and put it to ink.
She was fitted with beds, kitchen, med bay, hydroponics, and an SAI computer core. (Simulated Artificial Intelligence), she was the smartest thing on this side of Mother Earth. That wasn't even counting the number of general computers she bosted. Jupiter station nor the hyper sophisticated colonies on Europa had her brainpower. She needed it to run the prototype power core and engine that this whole test flight was about today. Anti-matter was dangerous and difficult at the best of times but they needed its power to do what they were planning here. Despite how dangerous it was, anti-matter had been used in most space travel to this date and was deemed safe. However, it was always in tiny quantities and the freighter pilots held their hands over the "EJECT CORE" button the whole flight. Not that it would have made a difference.
"Warp Drive" had been dreamed about over 350 years ago in science fiction. So far, all that modern science had been able to achieve was a "Warp Push". They never got the opportunity to tap into the full potential of the theory due to the sheer amount of variables, not to mention danger, that needed to be calculated when using large quantities of the stuff. Many tried, and every single one of them was now drifting with the solar winds. The one problem that humanity always faced was the ability to 'control and contain.' Aiden knew one thing his whole life as a Moonborn. From weapons to politics to space travel. Energy is easy. Sheer output is easy but power without control, was a bomb.
SOL System: Launch Day.
"I never said there wouldn't be problems sir. I said if there were problems, Aiden could handle them."
Jeremy, former disembodied voice and head of the ground crew, clinched his teeth in silent anger as the hologram of one of the many council members paced back and forth, doing his best to scrub the mission for the fifth time today.
"He's too young! Captian Paris has voiced his concerns on Captian Rames' qualifications and experience for this mission."
"Look sir, he's already finishing his final checks. Even if I pulled the plug now, he has all the control. All he has to do is push a few buttons and he's gone, and we sure as hell aren't going to catch him. Pluto took us what, a year and a half to get there? If everything goes to plan, he'll be there before lunch"
With that, Jeremy ended the call. Pointing to the tech at the nearby work station. "If he or anyone else calls, rip the console out of the God dammed floor!"
"
Jeremey walked back into the large control room, just across the hall from the holo-viewer.
Everything okay sir?"
"Yeah yeah, just... yeah. Let's pick this up, shall we? How's our boy?"
"See for yourself, sir. He's just waiting on the word."
Jeremy tapped his neck. "Okay Aiden, you ready for the final countdown?"
Aiden stiffened in his chair and tapped his neck. "I know in the movies you're not supposed to push any big red flashing button but I gotta say. This one is looking mighty juicy."
The gound crew chuckled and Jeremey smiled. "I'll take that as an affirmative. We're releasing the docking clamps control to you now."
Aiden went through his motions.Pressing a series of buttons and pausing as he felt the clamps release with a rumble. He took a deep breath and pushed another few buttons on his holo-console. "Initiating fusion drive."
He barely felt his momentum shift as the traditional engines spun up and pushed him away from the space dock.
"You okay there Kid?" Jeremy asked. "Your heart rate spiked."
Aiden chuckled darkly. "Yeah, Just a little nervous is all."
"Hey, nothing to worry about. The first half of this is Just a routine flight, nothing more. It's just a quick trip to the store. Just forget about the billions of people watching."
Aiden couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I seriously hate you."
"Good luck buddy. See you on the other side of the moon."
Aiden nodded and answered earnestly. "Otherside of the moon."
With his coordinates locked in, Aiden had little to do before there was enough distance between him and the lunar surface to begin the trial. If something went wrong, he wasn't going to be anywhere near the moon with the amount of anti-matter he had on board. Turning his head, he dared one more glance out the window as a slow parade of beacons and satellites marched past his view with the moon as the backdrop. He smiled to himself as his mind wandered to the Moon's national anthem. Softly, in his own off-key voice, he began to sing to himself.
"My Moon my home my sweet respite.
Far away from the troubles of a mortal's life.
Once so far now you're in my hands.
Please kind to this mortal man.
We once were held by Earthly bars.
Now I touch your face with all its scars.
Your beauty unmatched in our twilight sky.
You are the reason men wished to fly."
"Initiating anti-matter drive."
Author's Note
*QE (Quantum Entanglement) For those familiar with Mass Effect, I'm using it like that. In as gross terms as possible, two particles. What happens to one, happens to the other. Vibrate one to make a sound. Used to communicate instantly over vast distances without waiting for radio waves to travel.
I'm working on pacing. I know it's a little off. Thanks for your read!
Also, the back and forth will stop soon. I know some people don't like that.
